Lather, Rinse, Repeat

on

Right after securing employ late last fall, I gave myself the gift of puzzles.  Namely, I got myself a subscription to the NYT Puzzle App.  This allows me access to the full extent of Spelling Bee, as well as access to all the Crosswords in addition to Connections, Wordle, et al.  

As it turns out, I am getting pretty good at the NYT Crossword.  Or, to be more accurate, I'm getting good at being repetitive.  There are a lot of clues that end up in them frequently.  It's important to know seasons in French, how to say year in Spanish, that a couple is an item, and that if you use BUTTHURT as a clue that someone is going to end up... well, butthurt.


Well, JeopardAmy, Merriam Webster indicates the first use recorded in 1996.  They don't seem to think it has a pejorative connotation, but you do you, ma'am.

I mean, they've also used SUS and NOCAP at least once each - and those are slang, too.  It's the beauty of language.

Some of the puzzles do fun things where they cut off a word, or they put more than one letter in a blank.  Those are kind of fun.

But my point it - there are patterns.  Which, seems to be a pattern in my life as well.  Funny how that goes.

It is definitely starting to feel like Spring here in the greater Nashville area.  And weird as it is, I've already planned my vacation time into July.  Now, am I going to take a surprise day off and tool down to Huntsville to get some dishtowels at the IKEA?  Probably.  Now that Memphis is closing, it's Huntsville (smaller store) or Atlanta (longer drive).

My love for IKEA is foolish, but I'm OK with that.  



If loving cute dishtowels is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Also, IKEA is a frequent clue in crossword puzzles.  Fun!

I'm going to be honest with you.  My energy these days is zapped.  I am working on regulating, getting a little more sunlight, fresh air, vegetables. I'll get back to my more normal self... soon... I hope.  My point is, this post has been written over several weeks.  And I can't seem to get enough written down to make it worth hitting publish.

So I'm going to hit publish.  Check you later.


ae

Comments

Christopher said…
I used to work on crossword puzzles while riding the bus. Once a guy sitting next to me started suggesting words that had nothing to do with the clues. He was just coming up with words that had the right number of letters to fit the boxes. I said that a particular word across wouldn't fit with the one going down. He seemed a bit annoyed and said, "Fine, it's your puzzle. Do what you want." And I suddenly realized there was something admirable in his approach. He wasn't going to be bound by the usual rules.
I could also say he was butthurt which, interestingly, has also been added to the OED. There's no suggestion of homophobia in its definition, "Overly or unjustifiably offended or resentful" or any of its examples. But language is a tapestry and we all add our own threads.
March 17, 2026 at 8:02 AM
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